Shuffy2: Beatrice and Benedick & Lizzie and Darcy- there are some similarties! This is my favorite of Shakespeare's comedies! Two characters who love to spar with words, 2 couples who love each other, and a bad guy! Perfect mix...

chrisharpe: Both novels offer a similar sort of wry look at the foibles of the English classes in the 18th / 19th centuries. Both are so carefully observed and deliciously written that they remain classics.

lilithcat: Some Tame Gazelle was Barbara Pym's first book, but I would really recommend any of her works to admirers of Jane Austen. She has the same sensibility, the same grasp of the English social order and the English village, and populates her books with very similar people. But, more important, she has the same sense of humor, and the same marvelous touch with comedies of manners.… (more)

Jen7waters: Although one is fantasy and the other isn't, Meliara has with Vidanric, the same problem Lizzy has with Darcy: prejudice. She keeps wanting to bite his head off when all he does is help her. Love them all!

Pride and Prejudice tells the story of Elizabeth Bennet, the second eldest daughter of five of a country gentleman and his wife, over the course of a year. In that time, she meets the cold Mr. Darcy, the flirtatious Mr. Wickham, and her cousin, the odious Mr. Collins while dealing with the fact that she, along with her sisters, are unmarried with little dowry to offer.

Jane Austen is a spectacular writer, knowing exactly how to draw the reader in and keep them captivated. Her characters are fully explored, often times in a humorous way. Mr. Collins and Lady Catherine are the best examples of this- they are depicted in such a ridiculous way that it is easy to picture them in their various scenes.

Pride and Prejudice is my favorite novel. I have read it again and again over the years, always finding it fresh and exciting. I always cringe when Elizabeth or Mr. Darcy make a serious error in judgment and wait on pins and needles to see if they ever will find their way to true love. I highly recommend this book to all readers. It will capture your attention and take you on an eventful and satisfying journey.( )

Another classic that has thousands of thoughtful reviews. Hmmmm ..... what to add?

I have watched the miniseries with Colin Firth multiple times, so I was already familiar with the story. In retrospect, I wish I had read the novel first. This is one time I would have thanked my high school literature teachers for making me read a classic. Sadly, Austen wasn't part of the curriculum, but I had a full year devoted to Shakespeare (not that I recall much of it).

For any reader who thinks Pride and Prejudice is primarily a romance novel, I would argue that assertion is flawed. Besides tackling social class distinctions, P & P is also a study of human nature, self-deception and self-expression through language. Although written in the early 1800s, it seems many of these themes are still relevant today. There is humor in this story but not the obvious laugh-out-loud type. Instead, it is more veiled in sarcasm and witty discourse.

Ultimately, I am glad to have finally read the written words of this story, as it provided new insights into the characters actions and motivations. As for my favorite character Elizabeth (Lizzie), the book has not altered my high regard for her. This is my favorite Austen book read to date and can understand why it is arguably her most popular. 4.5 stars rounded up to 5. ( )

It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.

Quotations

The power of doing anything with quickness is always prized much by the possessor, and often without any attention to the imperfection of the performance.

Do not be afraid of my running into any excess, of my encroaching on your privilege of universal good will. You need not. There are few people whom I really love, and still fewer of whom I think well. The more I see of the world, the more am I dissatisfied with it; and every day confirms my belief of the inconsistency of all human characters, and of the little dependence that can be placed on the appearance of either merit or sense.

"In vain have I struggled. It will not do. My feelings will not be repressed. You must allow me to tell you how ardently I admire and love you."

"I wonder who first discovered the efficacy of poetry in driving away love!"

Though Lydia's short letter to Mrs. F. gave them to understand that they were going to Gretna Green, something was dropped by Denny expressing his belief that W. never intended to go there, or to marry Lydia at all, which was repeated to Colonel F., who, instantly taking the alarm, set off from B. intending to trace their route. He did trace them easily to Clapham, but no farther; for on entering that place they removed into a hackney-coach and dismissed the chaise that brought them from Epsom. All that is known after this is that they were seen to continue the London road. I know not what to think. After making every possible enquiry on that side London, Colonel F. came on into Hertfordshire, anxiously renewing them at all the turnpikes, and at the inns in Barnet and Hatfield, but without any success; no such people had been seen to pass through. With the kindest concern he came on to Longbourn, and broke his apprehensions to us in a manner most creditable to his heart.

Last words

Darcy, as well as Elizabeth, really loved them; and they were both ever sensible of the warmest gratitude towards the persons who, by bringing her into Derbyshire, had been the means of uniting them.

Austen’s most celebrated novel tells the story of Elizabeth Bennet, a bright, lively young woman with four sisters, and a mother determined to marry them to wealthy men. At a party near the Bennets’ home in the English countryside, Elizabeth meets the wealthy, proud Fitzwilliam Darcy. Elizabeth initially finds Darcy haughty and intolerable, but circumstances continue to unite the pair. Mr. Darcy finds himself captivated by Elizabeth’s wit and candor, while her reservations about his character slowly vanish. The story is as much a social critique as it is a love story, and the prose crackles with Austen’s wry wit.

Elizabeth Bennet is the perfect Austen heroine: intelligent, generous, sensible, incapable of jealousy or any other major sin. That makes her sound like an insufferable goody-goody, but the truth is she's a completely hip character, who if provoked is not above skewering her antagonist with a piece of her exceptionally sharp -- but always polite -- 18th century wit. The point is, you spend the whole book absolutely fixated on the critical question: will Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy hook up?